


A Giddy Hope

by DarethShiralAsaara (PSIDontKnow)



Series: Change is the Game [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Time for Twinquisitors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 18:24:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17391368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PSIDontKnow/pseuds/DarethShiralAsaara
Summary: It had been strange to know that two people walked out of the Fade, but it's even stranger how old they both make her feel- or -Five Times Cassandra sees the Heralds of Andraste act like five year olds





	A Giddy Hope

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally got my grubby hands on this game, the same day my friend decided to restart his own file, so we jokingly made Twinquisitors, reshaped them over a couple weeks, and now we're far too attatched. So here we are, the shitty story of two dumbasses that are Vashoth and Elven and all stupidity.

1

     Cassandra still wasn't sure if they were Andraste’s Heralds, but the twins were… Something for sure. She side eyes the smaller of the two, Carian, as she yells in the tavern. Haven’s tavern hasn't been this rowdy for most of Cassandra's time there, but there was something about the woman that inspired people to yell, though it's not always friendly. Nearly everyone there is going to have a terrible hangover in the morning, if the way the Qunari halfling is shouting for another cask to be opened is any indication. It's not a holiday, nor a true victory but she's yelling and excited anyways. Her brother Parian is less boisterous, though not against any of this, laughing as she stands on the table, chanting for her to give a speech and roping the whole tavern into chanting with him as tankards are refilled. He'd gained more of the Qunari height between them, tall enough to look down at both herself and Cullen, but he's hornless, lithe form and long ears pointing to elven roots. 

     Carian clears her throat, standing as tall as she can on her table, which in all honesty is not very tall, gesturing with her mug and yelling for everyone to be quiet. She's bulkier than her brother, both from their shared Qunari blood and her constantly swinging weapons as big as she is, nearly Dwarven in build, though her face is plain and human, as is her brother's. Cassandra can see why most people have resorted to calling them ‘mutts’, their own parentage unknown to even them, unable to be known at a glance, unable to be claimed by any one peoples. The tavern eventually quiets enough that Carian can begin her impromptu speech. 

     “To all the people I know and love, I wish you well, and all the rest can go to hell.”

     The tavern erupts into a roar of shouts and applause at her words, even Cassandra huffing out a fond laugh, hiding her smile in the lip of her mug. Carian takes the opportunity to bow low, deeply, like a lord, before practically leaping onto her brother's shoulders, yelling for him to march. He parades her around the room, both guiding the mass into drunkenly yelling a song, small sparks of fire bouncing from Parian, even without his staff. They're loud and childish, but they put a smile on everyone's faces before they march out again. 

 

* * *

  
  


2

     The twins ears are on the large side for elves, let alone any other race, and they are expressive. Cassandra eyes both the hang dog faces and their drooping ears before her gaze moves to the scorch mark along the Chantry wall. Maker, these two make her feel old, especially now when they're both staring at her like children instead of the - well, they are children, barely 20. 

     “So, what caused this?” She quirks an eyebrow, trying not to smile smugly at the way Carian looks away, ashamed, and Parian hunches over, as if making himself smaller. She gives them a few minutes to compose themselves, making a ‘well, come on’ gesture when they don't fess up. 

     “Antivan grenades are really cool, right?” Carian starts, big green eyes looking up at Cassandra. “But we were thinking, what if we made them  _ cooler? _ ”

     “So you burnt the surrounding area and the walls, trying to make them ‘cooler’?”

     “We figured that if a mage hit the grenade before it hit the ground, it could, you know… Increase the area and fire power.” Parian still won't look at her, left hand gripping tight to his staff, right scratching behind one of his ridiculous ears. They make her feel old, pulling things like this and then looking at her with big eyes and droopy big ears. She makes them scrub the - luckily undamaged - wall and lectures them the entire time, like they're new recruits. 

     She supposes they are.

 

* * *

  
  


3

     First Redcliffe, now Therinfal Redoubt. Both twins are stiff lipped about what exactly happened on both of their diplomatic trips, beyond a muttered ‘shit got weird’ from Parian, his sister strangely quiet about it. Cassandra can't help but dwell on it at the war table, the way both twins seem a little more downtrodden than before, the dark circles under their eyes. She can see the way that Parian grips his staff too hard, the way that Carian’s horns have become rough, and she worries, but it is not her job to soothe them, not right now.  There's other things to deal with, who this Elder One is, the red Lyrium, finding housing for the mages and the former Templars where they won't be at each other's throats. And now, a demon on the war table. 

     The last startles everyone around it, the creature appearing in a puff of smoke. It looks like a boy, all gangly limbs and and bony joints, but she still draws her sword, pointing it at the threat. It's unnecessary, as Carian gives a short shriek before hugging the thing, throwing her arms around its neck and uncaring of how their markers are knocked over or the thing's startled Halla look at them, pale fingers holding a little Chantry marker. 

     “Cole! I didn't think you'd come!” Her voice is high and light, the girl standing on her tiptoes to reach this Cole still sitting on the table, still looking like a startled little creature, even as he awkwardly returns the hug, hand holding the marker fisted against her back. 

     “I followed you from the Temp-” He's interrupted by a fire ball going past his head, making the edge of his ridiculous hat smolder and nearly catching Cullen in the face. 

     “Get away from my sister.” Parian’s voice is low, deadly, his staff outstretched on warning, but before Cole can even respond to defend himself, Carian has let go of him and stretched a leg out to solidly kick her brother. 

     “Leave him alone, Pari, he's our friend!”

     “He's a demon! That  _ stalked  _ you!”

     “He followed me! It's not like we don't have people doing that all the time!” It's the first time any of the advisors have seen the siblings disagree on any thing, and it's a sight to behold, loud voices and gesturing, sparks around Parian’s staff and Carian’s hand gripping the demons wrist, body in front of him to protect him as she aims little kicks to her brother’s shins. Cassandra almost feels sorry for the creature when it turns to her, a glimpse of eyes that remind her of a hound, shadowed under the hat and hidden behind straw colored hair. Almost is not enough though, and she levels a look at it, one that she hopes conveys both her disgust and her willingness to run him through if he hurts the girl so  _ foolishly _ putting her trust in him. 

     “-we don't even know what it wants!”

     “I want to help.” The spirit's voice is small but clear, gangly limbs unfolding from their uncomfortable position on the table so he can climb down, not shaking off the hand still latched to his wrist, other hand placing back the marker. 

     “But how do we know for sure that's all you want?” Even a few lengths away, Cassandra can feel the heat coming from Parian’s staff, and she hopes to never be on the other side of the mage or his temper. 

     “He helped me at Therinfall, with the Envy demon, I wouldn't be here if he hadn't.” Carian squares her shoulders, somehow making herself look bigger than the spirit behind her, no matter that he was nearly a foot taller, staring down her nose at her brother. The stare down continues until Cole looks up, or at least Cassandra assumes he does, from the way his ridiculous hat tilts. 

     “You help people, you made them safe when they would have died. I want to do that. I can  _ help. _ ” His words are low and heartfelt, and Carian looks between him and her brother, stern look fading to one of smugness. Her brother simply glares for a moment longer before letting out a long suffering sigh, tension draining from his shoulders. 

     “First sign of funny business, you're going back to the Fade, you hear me?” No sooner than he's finished speaking than Carian is giving a cheer, leaping up to wrap her arms around the spirit's neck in a short hug before doing the same to her brother. 

     “Knew you'd see it my way!”

     “DONT GET SMUG YOU GOBLI - Where'd he go?” Cassandra gasps as she realizes the spirit boy is indeed gone without a trace, seemingly vanishing an the time it took her to blink. For her part, the Qunari girl simply shrugs and gives the advisors a crooked smile. 

     “He does that, it's a thing. So, what were you saying again about reinforcements?”

 

* * *

 

4

     She had been worried, after so many blows to the twins. First the corruptions, then Haven, things that could and have crushed the spirits of more experienced soliders, let alone these two. It's hard to remember the way Cari had looked, saying she'd stay behind in Haven, willing to accept her fate, to remember Pari searching the snow for his sister, face pulled tight. It’s hard to reconcile those stern faced leaders with the two currently rolling down a hill like idiot children. 

     They whoop and holler, armor left behind in camp when they had seen the huge hill. They take turns rolling down, sometimes racing each other to the bottom, stopping to climb trees with a dexterity one wouldn't expect them to have. There's leaves in their hair, under clothes stained with grass, but Cassandra can't help but smile from where she leans against a tree, watching the twins play. 

     “Home, it's so good to be home. Light, lifting, they longed, but now they are here.” Cassandra can't help the jump when Cole begins to speak next to her, babbling as he does. She relaxes easy enough though, smirking a bit at the way he seems amazed as well that they’re so startlingly  _ bright _ .

     “This is their homeland then? It suits them.”

     “Wild,Willful, watching and waiting while wiling the time away. They're happy here.” Here, the boy sighs softly, longlingly, and Cassandra wants to mirror it, because she longs to be happy and home as well. She instead teases him some, not willing to let her own hurt marr this strangely happy moment.

     “You almost sound jealous Cole.” 

     “Not jealous, just… “ The spirit stops speaking, tilting his head in a birdlike manner, trying to find the words he's looking for. He doesn't get a chance before Cari has taken notice of them both of them simply watching them play.This is apparently a grave offense, the girl darting over, her bare feet expertly avoiding the debris in her way, and grabbing a hand each. 

     “C’mon! There's a stream a bit further down that's cool and bear free! Sitting here stewing isn't good for anyone.” Her grin is lopsided, charming even with the scar that scores her lip, and Cassandra some how finds herself drug with her, convinced to take off her boots and roll up her pants to at least stand in the water. It  _ is _ cool, welcome after a long day of travel, but it doesn't last long before the twins start up their play again. They're shouting, kicking water at each other like they're two and not twenty, and Cassandra laughs when they rope Cole into it too, his ridiculous beloved hat dripping water as he keeps getting distracted by the way the light clips through the water. She's content to sit on a rock, feet still dipped in the chilly water, and watch them until Parian decides that just watching isn't enough. 

     She doesn’t realize he’s behind her until the water rushes over her head, and she splutters, wiping it out of her eyes before glaring at the boy. He’s grinning broadly behind her, overly large ears perked up to match, still holding Cole’s hat tilted from how he had used it to dump freezing river water on her. There's a promise of retribution in her eyes as she stands, and the Inquisitor smartly bolts, his sister following behind him, both laughing like loons. 

 

     “... He took my hat… “

  
  


* * *

 

 

 

5

     Cassandra is often reminded of how young the Inquisitors really are, because they're young and playful and loud. Despite this, they've always pulled through everything okay. They know when to put on a face, she's seen them lead battles, face down an archdemon, but something about Adamant shook them. When they and the others that went give their reports, she's… Stunned, to say the least. The Fade, the Divine, the Nightmare… its all a lot to take in for her, and she wasn't even there for it. It rattles in her head, late at night, keeping her awake. The only solution she can think of, short of training in the dark, is to drown her sorrows in warm tea in lieu of the alcohol that has surely found it’s way into the celebrating men.

     She doesn’t want to admit how rattled she was when the first raven had arrived, claiming the Inquisitors had fallen, along with their companions. She was even more shaken though, by the second one that arrived mere hours later, claiming they’d walked back out of the rift. To hear Carian tell it, it was a grand story, filled with wild gesturing and many curses upon anything that even vaguely looked like a spider. Parian had been quiet, but he’d been the one to stew over things more, but he’d even added in tales, had grinned with his sister and waved off joining the festivities. She’d thought they’d be fine, like they had been before, rolling down hills by the next morning, arguing with the medics. She’d never thought to remember that being playful wasn’t the only part of their childishness.

     She finds them by accident, walking past a sitting room on the way to the kitchen, only to hear low murmurs coming from inside. She peeks her head through the open door, squinting to make out the shape of Pari’s ashy hair, undone from it’s queue for once, and Cari’s horns, tilted to rest on his shoulder. They’re hunched together, a blanket wrapped around both of them to ward off the chill on their backs while the fireplace they’re sat in front of does the rest. Their shape, the late hour, neither are what catches Cassandra’s attention. It’s a quick gasp of a breath, one she knows well, that makes her pause to watch instead of leave. It’s the sound of someone trying to cry silently, and now that she’s looking for it, she can see the subtle shaking in both twins’ shoulders.

     She’s seen Parian cry twice, both in relief and anger, and all of Skyhold has seen Carian cry, she’s unabashed about her feelings or using them to get what she wants, but this - this is different. The little noise that comes after is broken and low, a gasp on the tail end as whichever one tries to grab a breath. It’s hard to tell like this, with voices low, changed by emotion and vulnerability. This is not something she should be spying on, heart aching when she hears the choked murmurs.

     “‘Kari?” 

     “Tell me - about mom and dad.” Both voices are wrecked, and Cassandra cannot stand around and intrude on this any longer, quietly leaving and heading to her original destination of the kitchen.

     In the morning, she doesn’t comment on the circles under the twins eyes, and they don’t comment about mugs of warm milk and honey, set outside the door with a knock.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope yall liked this, I really like doing the five times Vignette's, they don't weigh as heavily on my mind as full stories. They also work better for something like this, where you know the full story and don't really want to reread what you already know. I have more of these lined up, Five Times the Twins were serious is next.  
> Comment, Kudos, whatever, I can be found on Twitter @PSIDontKnow


End file.
